23) PING PONG

Director: Fumihiko Sori
Stars: Yosuke Kubozuka, Arata, Sam Lee, Shido Nakamura, Koji Ookura, Naoto Takenaka, Mari Natsuki
Year: 2002
Rating: NR
(in Japanese with English subtitles)

Based on a Japanese manga by Matsumoto Taiyo, Ping Pong is one of those films that you discover by mistake on Amazon ... that, in this case, turned out to be one of my favorite films so far this year. More than a movie about table tennis, the film goes much deeper into being about the bond of friendship, the journey of self-discovery ... and what makes a hero.

Best friends since childhood, high school students Peco (Yosuke Kubozuka) and Smile (Arata) could not be more different in personality. Both have grown up with both a love and talent for playing table tennis, Peco has always been the show-off - a bold and brash braggart who taunts his opponents before whipping their butts in the game in his efforts to turn pro - while Smile (so named because he never, EVER smiles) is the quiet, shy loner who keeps to himself and was befriended (and taught ping pong) by Peco when he had no other friends as a kid. Peco and Smile are close, ace table tennis players, and Smile in particular is both a trial and tribulation to his coach, former table tennis champ Butterly Joe (Naoto Takenaka), who recognizes that Smile is actually the better player, and has been hiding his true talent at the game in order to let Peco have the spotlight (especially as, on the rare occasional when Peco does lose to someone, he tends to have a fit).

As the high school championship games grow near, where the boys must face competitors with names like "China" (Sam Lee), "Dragon" (Shido Nakamura), and their childhood rival "Demon" (Koji Ookura), during one match Smile is forced to show his real strengths as a table tennis player ... and it's a real wakeup call for Peco, devastating both his confidence and ability to play the game to the point where he gives up the game, trying to find anything else in life he could possibly have the same level of passion for.

Supporting characters like China (a former championship-league player on his way out), Dragon - the determined leader of a rival school's team - and Demon, who desperately searches for the kernel of raw talent for the game he sees in Smile, within himself - brings extra depth in both characterization and story to the film. But the heart and soul of Ping Pong is in the lifelong friendship of Peco and Smile, along with the sport that has been a part of their lives for just as long. On the surface a sports film about how seriously the Japanese take a sport rarely seen AS a sport in this country, Ping Pong is actually an exciting, funny, and - in the end - truly touching tribute to the bond of friendship ... and again, what truly make a hero. Yosuke Kubozuka and Arata head a great cast, and the last twenty minutes of the film alone are worth the rating, but overall this is a wonderful film that should leave you cheering - maybe with a tear in your eye at the same time. I only wish more American filmmakers could make movies with this much heart and soul. ***** - Reel Must-See

22) 2012

Director: Roland Emmerich
Stars: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Thomas McCarthy, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Johann Urb
Year: 2009
Rating: PG-13

Fans of Irwin Allen films, cheesy sci-fi movies of the 1950's in particular, or doomsayers who've been predicting - for years - that California will one day crumble off into the Pacific Ocean ... boy, are you gonna love this one. Not content with destroying the major cities of the world in Independence Day, or covering the entire top two-thirds of the world in ice in Day After Tomorrow, here director Roland Emmerich goes for the whole enchilada - all wrapped around an ancient prophecy in the Mayan calendar that predicts the world will end on December 21st, 2012.

Emmerich takes that nugget, slam-dunks a decent cast of talented actors into the storyline he's developed around the prophecy ... and turned it all into two hours and thirty-eight minutes of one hell of a special effects mardi gras that's as big on cheese as it is on entertainment. What 2012 lacks in a believable storyline, well-written dialogue, and Oscar-worthy performances, it sure as heck makes up for in visually-stunning destruction that grabs you by the throat and never lets go ... once everything starts going to hell.

John Cusack stars as Jackson Curtis, a writer of high regard and modest sales who - when in the throes of a book - finds little attention for anything else, including the two kids he occasionally has visitation right to via his ex, Kate (Amanda Peet). Curtis loves his daughter and son, he's just a bit of a scatterbrain, and in proving he can show his kids a good time, he's planned a trip to Yellowstone National Park, just him and the kids, for a camping trip.

Provided, of course, Yellowstone is still there; by the time we meet Jackson Curtis, viewers have already learned that, several years back, a scientist named Dr. Adrian Helmsley had detected a disturbing amount of sun flares ... along with the shifting of the continental plates under the earth's surface, all an indication of the planet's self-destruction. While the powers that be have spent the ensuing years since Helmsley's discovery in efforts to build space-age "arks" to save at least a fraction of the earth's population, Helmsley learns that all signs of the apocalypse have sped up considerably ... with only days left to go before Armageddon.

Meanwhile, in Yosemite, Jackson Curtis meets a nutjob named Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), who mans his own doomsday radio broadcast from Yosemite, which tells listeners about the Mayan prediction and warning them of the end of the world even as he celebrates the beauty of it all. Curtis nods and keeps his kids away from Frost, assuming that's a nut but at least not dangerous ... until some very ugly earthquakes start to happen, and as California literally starts self-destructing around them Curtis rounds up his kids and ex - even Kate's new boyfriend, Gordon (Thomas McCarthy) - and starts their around-the-world-trek, using information gleamed from Charlie Frost, to try get his family to the safe place Frost claimed everyone else is trying to get to, as well.

As if there IS a safe place, once the mayhem starts. Around the world, devastating earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcano-like eruptions begin ripping an unsuspecting world apart ... and this is where the film's stunning visuals take hold, with Emmerich stopping at nothing in some of the most visually mind-blowing, realistic special effects ever committed to film. As Curtis tries to make his way from Los Angeles to China - where the arks are supposedly being hurriedly finished ahead of the destruction - as in the best of disaster films, you have a small group of assembled potential victims running only inches ahead of the devastation, as viewers wonder who will fall and who MIGHT survive.

You may have to check your brain at the door before jumping with both feet into this one, but if you can do so 2012 certainly is as entertaining and substance-free as a super-sized tub of popcorn. At times humorous, melodramatic, thrilling, suspenseful, and downright silly, it's a trip that stretches out a bit too long toward the end ... but is still more than worth the ride. Living in Los Angeles, even I can't look at the mountain view out my office window the same, anymore. *** - Reel Cool

21) TAKE OUT

Director: Sean Baker & Shih-Ching Tsou
Stars: Charles Jang, Jeng-Hua Yu, Wang-Thye Lee, Justin Wan, Jeff Huang
Year: 2004
Rating: NR

I can honestly say I've never seen a film quite like Take Out. From a budget less than most families spend on a week's vacation, writer/directors Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou have fashioned a moving, suspenseful and utterly realistic film - with a talented cast of actors and non-actors alike (led by the extraordinary Charles Jang) - that the biggest, baddest Hollywood big budget filmmakers could learn from.

The plotline is simple: a young illegal Chinese immigrant in New York City, Ming Ding (Charles Jang), has gotten a few payments behind in the money he owes to the countrymen who got him into America, due to sending some money home to his wife and family. As the film opens, a couple of enforcers at Ming's apartment (which seems already overcrowded with Chinese immigrants), courtesy of the loan shark, to demand payment - taking what money Ming Ding has before cracking him in the back with a hammer and demanding that he owes the rest of his back payments ($800) by the end of that day, if he doesn't want a worse beating or his debt doubled.

The rest of the film spans the course of Ming Ding's day, where - as a bicycle delivery boy for a Chinese restaurant - he heads in the rain over and over again, frantically trying to raise enough money (after borrowing some of it from friends) to stay in the country ... and maybe save his life.

Sound kind of bland? Even boring? On the contrary; as Ming's frustrating day goes on, the young man pedaling all over Manhattan in the rain delivering food to people in a desperate attempt to raise the money, we grow to really care about the young man and his plight, rooting with him especially as we see the way he's treated by some of his customers. For sure, after seeing this film I will never, EVER look at another delivery boy the same way, knowing what one in a big city (especially one who doesn't speak the native language) can go through in a single day, and how important those tips are to his/her livelihood.

And therein lies the brilliance of Take Out; with a simple story, told in a straightforward way and without special effects or tricky camerawork (indeed, much of the film is grainy and muted in color, giving an even more realistic feel to what's going on), the viewer can focus on getting emotionally involved with Ming Ding's story. In just an 87-minute run time, the suspense builds and you truly grow to care about him; rooting for him to make enough money as he returns from each deliver and adds his tip money to the jar ... or deals with a variety customers who do everything from stiffing him on a tip at all, to throwing his tip in his face, to coming onto him sexually and more. So difficult to explain here, the film has to be seen to be believed - but only those with the hardest of hearts won't be on the edge of their seat as the film reaches its end, wondering if this poor guy who only wants a better life for him and his family, working a crap job in an uncaring city, will make enough money to stave off not only the doubling of his debt, but also a severe beating. Take Out is an original, immensely involving and touching film with an authenticity so real, it's almost surreal. True, unblemished, shoestring-budget filmmaking with more heart and soul than nearly anything released by any of the major studios today. Keep the Kleenex handy. And remember it the next time you order Chinese food in for delivery. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome- Reel Must-See

20) THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Stars: Annette Bening, Juianna Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson, Yaya DaCosta, Kunal Sharma, Eddie Hassell
Year: 2010
Rating: R

Nic (Annette Bening), a physician, has been in a committed, long-term relationship with Jules (Julianne Moore) long enough for the two of them to have raised a pair of teenagers. While not without its problems (Nic has tendency to lean toward both controlling behavior and alcohol, while Jules hasn't always been happy with her supporting role of stay-at-home mom), they're a happy couple similar to any other happily married couple in their neighborhood; they even make for good parents, with Nic at the disciplinarian whereas Jules retains the more laidback, flower-child mentality of her youth.

Each woman carried and gave birth to her own child, both kids fathered by the same sperm donor almost two decades before; now both Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson) simply refer to them as "the moms" or "my moms," and having a pair of women has always simply been the norm.

But as Joni's eighteenth birthday nears, Laser (who is only fifteen) in particular pressures her to exert her legal right to find out who their sperm donor father was ... which leads both teens, without their moms' knowledge, to find local restaurant owner Paul (Mark Ruffalo) - who, at first, is quite uncomfortable with meeting them, unsure of his role in their lives or even what to say. Laser's unimpressed but Joni takes an instant liking to her affable, scruffy donor-dad, and neither teen understands, as Paul slowly becomes more and more involved in all their lives, why Nic and Jules (especially Nic) seem so against the idea. Jules, trying to start up her own landscaping business, even gets hired by Paul to work on his place, and as Paul is let in on the family dynamics more and more, events happen and things change in ways that lead to conflicts both comical and dramatic ... and a specific problem that, much like real life, isn't so cleanly and neatly resolved by "the end."

What makes The Kids Are All Right work so beautifully is the total believability of the characters - and the actors who play them. Bening and Ruffalo (both Oscar-nominated) and Moore all turn in such humane performances; in particular, you never once DON'T believe that Jules and Nic are a married couple who talk and fight and love just like a real-life married couple would. Ruffalo's Paul is a real gem; like Jules, Paul is more laidback and casual - a trait that leads to his big issues in the film, with Ruffalo making him completely real and sympathetic, even when he's doing something wrong. Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson, both given less to do here, still bring heart to the film playing a pair of teens who wholly love their moms, even as they sometimes drive them crazy (again, just like real-life teens).

Funny, heartwarming, and at turns touching and sweet, The Kids Are All Right has a great script and cast who come off as real people on-screen; real people who live, love, make mistakes, and hope those mistakes can be forgiven. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome-Reel Must-See

19) BLACK SWAN

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Stars: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder
Year: 2010
Rating: R

Over sixteen years ago, when I saw The Professional in a theater featuring "child actor" Natalie Portman, I remember thinking that this gal was an amazing talent. That sentiment has been echoed in my head, off and on, over the years - but while watching Black Swan it practically reverberated in my brain like a gong. This stylish, intense, often get-under-your-skin creepy psychological thriller about a young ballerina's total devotion to her craft is completely deserving of its Oscar nominations (especially for Portman) - and one of the most effective suspense thrillers I've seen in quite some time.

Portman plays Nina Sayers, a young ballerina in New York City who lives for her art. She's very successful with her current company, but has never had a lead role ... until she learns that the company's next production will be an avant garde production of Swan Lake, and that the company's usual lead dancer, Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) will not be dancing the White Swan.

This leaves the coveted position open to all the better dancers in the company, and to Nina it means a chance to dance the role of a lifetime. She competes for the role - and, in fact, the artistic director of the new show, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) thinks she would make a perfect White Swan ... but while he feels Nina can dance the virginal White Swan role, it's the Black Swan - the White Swan's alter ego, who is much darker, sensual and dangerous - that Leroy feels she cannot play. Worse, Nina finds her strongest competition in another member of the company, Lily (Mila Kunis), who herself seems the personification of the darker, dangerous Black Swan. Leroy ends up giving the role to Nina, but almost with an unspoken proviso that if she cannot get into the mindset of the Black Swan, if she cannot dance the Black Swan with equal conviction, she may lose the lead.

He encourages Nina to follow her darker side, to act on her more feral and sexual urges, and as she does so Nina starts experiencing odd visions, or dreams that leave her alternately shaking with fear or sexually aroused. Being stifled and babied by the overprotective mother she still lives with (Barbara Hershey) - an ex-ballerina herself - Nina soon finds herself plunging into the world and mindset of the Black Swan; a mindset she may or may not be able to escape from again.

This is a hard film to describe in a review, but suffice to say that watching it is a riveting experience. Portman is certainly Oscar-worthy as Nina Sayers, a character you grow to care very much about, even as you wonder if she is either the victim of supernatural forces or just going mad. Even more than her other recent work, here Portman has genuinely matured into an actress of real power, in a very adult role that should have nay-sayers forgetting Queen Amidala completely.

Black Swan is a work of art about the world of art - and what artists (dancers in particular, here), are willing to go through, and give up, to reach the pinnacle of their success. Chilling and sensual and just damned good filmmaking, with an astonishing performance from Natalie Portman the tent-pole that holds it all together. ***** - Reel Must-See

Trailer: KABOOM

Trailer: SCREAM 4

Trailer: IMMIGRATION TANGO

18) DREAM BOY

Director: James Bolton
Stars: Stephan Bender, Max Roeg, Randy Wayne, Owen Beckman, Diana Scarwid, Thomas Jay Ryan, Rooney Mara
Year: 2008
Rating: R

Not having read Jim Grimsley novel on which this film is based, I had very little knowledge of the story going in ... except for knowing it was a love story between a pair of teenage boys set in rural Louisiana in the 1970s. Expecting a typical, downbeat sort of "romantic" gay film with maybe some gratuitous nudity that was more about the sex than the love, Dream Boy was a nice surprise all the way around; a compelling, wholly realistic story of first, faltering love between teenagers ... only here, the teens happen to be a pair of young men.

Nathan (Stephan Bender, effectively underplaying his performance) is a quiet, shy, introverted teenage boy recently relocated to a small backwoods rural Louisiana town due to his father's work. Living in a house seemingly surrounded by woods on a lonely country road, Nathan is happy to see that his neighbor across the way, in the only other house around, is a young boy his own age, who tends to the horses and small farm for his mother. The neighbor boy, sixteen and old enough to have his license, is also in charge of the school bus that takes the kids along this rural area into town for school every day - so eventually Nathan strikes up a conversation with the boy, named Roy (Max Roeg), and even offers to help Roy with some schoolwork he's having problems with.

It's obvious, early on, that Nathan's feelings for Roy go beyond friendship, even though Roy has a girlfriend ... and one night, while helping Roy with his studies in his room, Nathan literally reaches out to Roy - and though hesitant at first, learns his feelings for Roy are reciprocated. The two boys quickly become romantically involved, stealing time together when they can as they try to keep their romance a secret from one heck of a conservative town ... not to mention their parents (especially Nathan's father, who has his own secrets), and Roy's best friends Burke (Randy Wayne) and Randy (Owen Beckman), both of whom seem very much the kind of guys who'd take turns beating the crap out of either Nathan or Roy if they knew.

The film is simple of plot, told in a straightforward and uncomplicated way, yet with real depth of meaning thanks to the cast - particularly the two male leads. And as the supporting role of hunky jock Burke, Randy Wayne takes a real departure from some of the comedy roles I've seen him in, and is utterly convincing in doing so; Burke kind of creeped me out whenever he was on-screen, often with a smile on his face but with jittery, almost predatory eyes behind that smile; a real good ol' country boy whose temper could change on a dime, and a performance that definitely goes a long way toward proving Wayne has a bright future ahead as an actor.

Stephan Bender plays Nathan as almost a backward kid, but as the film goes on and you learn more of Nathan's past viewers will completely understand why; as said earlier, it's a heartfelt, understated performance. Max Roeg, son of director Nicolas Roeg and actress Theresa Russell (and uncannily resembling his mother), gives Roy real depth, making him a conflicted human being who comes off very real on-screen.

Without giving too much away, there are some surprises in Dream Boy that you don't see coming, yet make the love story between Nathan and Roy that much more believable and compelling on-screen. Wisely, director James Bolton only gives hints of skin - instead focusing on the very real fumbling and explorations of teenagers finding both real sex and true love for the first time. Bender and Roeg make the film, and though low budget and to the point, Dream Boy has some truly lyrical moments, and is definitely worth your time. ***1/2 - Reel Cool-Reel Awesome

17) INCEPTION

Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Tom Berenger, Lukas Haas, Michael Caine
Year: 2010
Rating: PG-13

I can sort of see, now, why so many reviewers had a hard time with Inception. Christopher Nolan's mind-bending science fiction head trip is a feast for the eyes; one you'd better not stray away from for a bathroom or food/soda break, if you want to keep track of what's going on.

But that's one of the film's biggest strengths; it makes you think. Makes you pay attention. And with its A-list cast, truly "special" special effects, and multi-level story, you'll find the ride well worth it.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, a master thief who is probably the best at what he does: extraction. Modern technology is now to the point where you can actually invade people's dreams, and pull out there most secret of secrets - and Cobb has used his talent at extraction to steal corporate secrets for a high price, with his mission impossible-style team including best friend Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Because of his work, Cobb is now however a fugitive of justice; he hasn't even seen his kids in some time because he can't return to the States - his ultimate goal of all.

When a failed attempt at retrieving some major information from a Japanese businessman named Saito (Ken Watanabe) leads to Saito's offering him a job, Cobb has no choice but to listen ... until he learns that Saito wants Cobb to perform the impossible - inception. He wants Cobb not to retrieve ideas from his biggest competitor ... but to, instead, implant an idea into the man, thereby knocking out his competition entirely. Arthur wants no part of things - at first - but Cobb finally admits he's manage inception once before. When Saito offers him the ultimate reward for doing the job - he can pull the strings that will allow Cobb to get back to the States and his kids without issue - Cobb takes the case, and begins assembling a team for one of the most complicated, risky and ultimate dangerous jobs he's ever taken on ...

Making for one of the most complex, visually stunning, and truly intelligent films I've seen in ages. To say much more might give too much away, but Inception truly is a work of art; a thinking man's film that also has the action and visuals for those who need a more visceral film experience. The cast, led by the brooding DiCaprio, is uniformly terrific (Tom Hardy, you are a true "A-lister" in the making; deservedly so!), in a film that truly defines what an ensemble cast should be, and the writing/direction by Christopher Nolan proves - yet again - that Nolan is one of the most gifted, artistic and cerebral filmmakers working today.

Watch Inception when you can give it your full concentration; shut off or ignore the phone, send the kids to the movies themselves, and have your DVD remote handy to his "pause" for any bathroom emergencies. This film's a keeper, with a great story, characters, and plot - and visually is a wowser, too. Definitely worthy of its Oscar nominations (though the absence of Nolan on the Best Director list is nothing short of OBSCENE), and most definitely worth seeing. ***** - Reel Must-See

16) NIGHT OF THE DEMONS

Director: Adam Gierasch
Stars: Shannon Elizabeth, Edward Furlong, Monica Keena, John F. Beach, Michael Copon, Diora Baird, Bobby Sue Luther
Year: 2009
Rating: R

Being a huge fan of the creepy (yet, somehow, also occasionally funny - in a good way) 1988 original, I was wondering just how bad this 2009 remake of one of my favorite cult horror films, Night of the Demons, would be. As it starred Elizabeth Shannon and Edward Furlong, plus personal-favorite actor of mine Michael Copon, I actually had some hope ... and am halfway-pleased to say the remake wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I guess, if anything, my question would be, why was it remade at all?

In the original, the plot was minor; a group of teenagers go to an old, unused funeral home on Halloween night for a party, hosted by resident high school weirdo Angela, and while there accidentally unleash a really nasty demon that turns each of them, one by one, into demons ... the question being, who can survive before morning, when the demons have to retreat back to their world after Halloween?

Cheesy (yet also very effective, especially the "lipstick scene") special effects added to the campy fun, and the film was actually a treat to watch. For the update, everything is more streamlined/updated; Angela (Shannon Elizabeth) is, like, the most popular girl on campus - a real rebel who rents out this Gothic mansion in New Orleans to host her annual blowout Halloween bash. The mansion is packed to the rafters with college kids, as well as liquor and sex and drugs ... the drugs supplied by one uninvited guest named Colin (Edward Furlong), Angela's ex and a desperate dealer who has only tonight to make enough money to repay a heavy debt owed to his supplier.

The party is barely underway before the cops arrive to break it up, leaving only Angela and six of her friends as stragglers. Determined to party alone and not waste the evening (or the liquor), the group hangs out and even plays spin the bottle ... before Angela reminds them of the truly sinister happenings in the Broussard mansion so many years ago. It seems that, decades early, Evangeline Broussard invited five guests to her house for a party. Five guests, plus the man she loved. And before the end of the evening, all of her guests were dead - had been murdered - and Evangeline herself hung herself over the edge of the second-story balcony at the front of the mansion.

Further, the group discovers the skeletal remains of Evangeline's six guests in a hidden room down in the basement - and when Angela accidentally suffers a cut on her finger from one of the skeletons, that infection grows into something truly ugly ... starting a chain of events that, eventually, those in the household realize has them trapped in the house for the night, with demons trying to take over their bodies before dawn; only in this one, if the demons can inhabit all seven of them by morning, a portal will open that will unleash them on the world.

Like everything else in remakes, things are supposed to be ratcheted up a notch or two here from the original; the special effects and makeup more realistic, the gore more explicit, the good guys' fight more difficult and with bigger consequences if they fail.

And here, certainly, all those things pretty much apply (although the acting is just as weak, in spots, as the original - except in the original, the weak acting fit; it was part of the fun). Good Lord, even the "lipstick scene" is repeated here, but goes to a level I would have thought the filmmakers wouldn't have dared!

Yet with all that, the remake of Night of the Demons is just okay. A valiant effort, but all gloss and no real substance. Not that you expect substance here, but somehow in the original - for all its flaws - the characters grew to become ones you care about. Not so much here, though John F. Beach, Michael Copon, and Diora Baird as Lily are standouts. Monica Keena is okay as the virginal Maddie, but if you've seen Freddy vs. Jason you've seen her pretty much play this character before.

Even an opening cameo from Linnea Quigley, who starred in the original, is nice - but again, nothing special. While I didn't hate - or even dislike - this version of Night of the Demons, after watching it a part of me is still asking: was making it really necessary? *** - Reel Cool

15) CHARLIE CHAN IN THE CHINESE CAT

Director: Phil Rosen
Stars: Sidney Toler, Benson Fong, Mantan Moreland, Joan Woodbury, Ian Keith, Weldon Heyburn
Year: 1944
Rating: NR

One of the later Charlie Chan films, made by Monogram studios and starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan, this entry in the popular mystery series finds Charlie Chan taking on the case of a businessman who was killed in his private study over six months ago, in a locked room as his desk, a chessboard with just a lone bishop standing on it the only clue.

Leah Manning (Joan Woodbury), stepdaughter of the deceased man, has come to find Charlie Chan to see if he can finally solve this crime, as the police have failed to do. She finds Chan's number three son Tommy, and Tommy ends up promising her the Chans will help - humbly binding his father to his word, so that Charlie has no choice but to take the case. It seems a Dr. Paul Recknik (Ian Keith) has recently published a book about the crime, all but naming Leah's mother as the murderer, and will now do anything to find her stepdad's really killer, if only to clear her mom's now-tainted name.

Jewel thieves, explosions, gunfire, more murders, wisecracking chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland, a god comic actor here, if you can look beyond the political INcorrectness of his character!), and a seemingly empty funhouse all contain the answers, and it's up to the world's greatest detective, Charlie Chan to solve it all - which, of course, he does.

For one of the Monogram Charlie Chan b-movies (low budget, so-so script, tissue-thin story), this one has its moments and is fairly entertaining. I grew up with Charlie Chan films on WGN-TV, and every time I catch one I haven't yet seen, it is sort of like old home week.

And for a Monogram entry in the series, this one does have some fun in store ... but would be of little interest to anyone who is not a Charlie Chan (or mystery film) fan. If that's you, best to stick to one of the earlier, 20th Century-Fox films in the series if you ever do want a good introduction to one of hte more interesting, unique detectives to ever hit the silver screen (eveen if the films aren't exactly what you could call politically correct today). *** - Reel Cool

14) PATRIK, AGE 1.5

Director: Ella Lemhagen
Stars: Gustaf Skarsgard, Torkel Petersson, Thomas Ljungman, Amanda Davin, Annika Hallin
Year: 2008
Rating: R
(in Swedish with English subtitles)

Goran (Gustaf Skarsgard) and Sven (Torkel Petersson) are a happily married gay couple in Sweden who have recently moved to the suburbs. Assimilating right away to their all-straight neighbors of families and other (but male-female) couples, everything seems perfectly ideal as Goran and Sven are accepted into the fold as any other couple, in a neighborhood that somewhat feels more suited to "Leave It to Beaver" than modern-day Sweden, even taking the relaxed gay marriage laws of Sweden into account.

But there's another reason for the move, one that has Goran grinning from ear to ear; he and Sven have finally been approved for adoption, and will be granted a brand new baby to raise as their own. Goran, a kid's doctor with a very caring personality, is about to start work at a new clinic and can't wait to push a baby carriage down the street with the other "moms" in the neighborhood. Sven, his husband and the brooding, macho "husband" who works a weekday nine-to-five office job in town, is happy that Goran is happy - but a formerly married man with a daughter who doesn't really understand (or want to understand) her gay father, Sven has done the raising kid's thing, and is more or less going along for the ride.

After a couple of false starts, a letter finally arrives in the mail that the couple have been approved for a Swedish child, "Patrik 1,5" - and though Goran and Sven think it odd they should list the year-and-a-half old baby's age as "1,5" they are still delighted (especially Goran) ... and soon the nursery upstairs, across from their bedroom, is all decked out with a crib and rocker and mobile hanging over the crib, all by the day of the infant's arrival ...

When Goran, home alone, opens the door and learns there was a typo - a missplaced comma on the letter he and Sven received ... and their 1,5-year-old baby Patrik is actually a 15-year-old foul-mouthed delinquent (Thomas Ljungman) with a criminal record, who happens to also be devoutly homophobic.

Needless to say, neither Goran or Sven - OR Patrik - are thrilled with the arrangement. With the adoption agency closed until Tuesday, Goran and Sven can't do anything about the mix-up until after the weekend ... and spend that weekend living in fear, as Patrik calls them homos and pedophiles who will probably rape him in the dead of night - while Goran and Sven, in turn, hide all the knives and anything else that Patrik may use to kill them overnight, while they sleep. Soon Sven even goes back to his drinking and smoking habits, long since abandoned, while Goran sleeps and Patrik locks himself in the nursery, sleeping on a mattress on the floor and ponders his fate. Goran, always the peacemaker and realizing that Patrik probably acts more out of fear and anger than real hatred, tries to even make some level of peace with the boy for as long as the three have to be together ... and indeed, it is Gustaf Skarsgard's performance as Goran that will endear you to both him and the film; he's a marvel here, playing Goran - a gentle soul who just wants to have his family.

The rest of the film is about how Patrik changes the lives and dynamics of Goran and Sven's life together ... and how, in turn, Patrik is changed by this totally alien world around him. Thomas Ljungman, as Patrik, brings a tough vulnerability to the character that rings so incredibly true, it reaches right to your heart; indeed, this young actor was a favorite of mine from the film Let Me In, but here both he and his talent have grown so much, I can only think of the mega-star this guy will someday be. As Goran learns both about Patrik's past and the question mark that is the boy's future - not to mention a few dirty secrets about the idyllic neighbors who aren't so perfect - even as Patrik's return to the adoption agency grows imminent, Goran finds himself wanting to do something to secure a better future for this troubled young man ...

Which leads to one of the most charming, sensitive and realistic comedy/dramas I've seen in some time. Similar in some ways to another film I've seen this year, Breakfast with Scot, Patrik, Age 1.5 packs so much more of an emotional punch; has more depth, drawing you in to the characters and really wanting Patrik and Goran both to end up with what they want. Touching and funny and full of life, Patrik, Age 1.5 was a wonderful surprise - not only worth watching, but more than worth adding to your own DVD collection permanently; I don't feel I've done it justice with this review, but if you're okay with the subject matter this film is one more people really should see ... period. This one was really done right, with real actors instead of "pretty boys" as the gay characters, PLAYING real characters who make mistakes and have flaws and aren't physically perfect. It's truly refreshing to see this in a "gay-themed" film, gay men as real people and not fashion model types with chiseled bodies and/or perfect faces ... and that, coupled with the young, truly gifted Ljungman as Patrik, makes for a "dramedy" packed with real heart and soul. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome-Reel Must-See

13) A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

Director: Samuel Bayer
Stars: Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, Kellan Lutz, Clancy Brown
Year: 2010
Rating: R

Even though twenty-six years had passed since Freddy Krueger first scared the snot out of moviegoers in Wes Craven's classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, it was hard to figure out why a remake was even needed; Robert Englund simply WAS Freddy Krueger, and long before the film franchise turned Freddy into a sarcastic horror stand-up comic, spewing one-liners as he dispatched with his victims, the original Nightmare - even today - still holds up as one hell of a gritty, scary, get-under-your-skin kind of film.

But then there was Michael Bay - the producer who likes excess, action, and film franchises. Already trying to revive the Jason Voorhess franchise with his remake of Friday the 13th retelling, here he reinvents Freddy Krueger - in the form of Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley, here in burnt-face makeup that certainly makes him (as Freddy) creepy and unsettling ... but never, like the film itself, quite up to par with the original.

After the "suicide" of a local high school student, Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara) and her closest friends begin to realize they are all sharing a common dream - that of a scary, burnt man in a striped sweater, bearing a glove on one hand tipped with razor-sharp knives, who is trying to kill them in their dreams. Nancy's friend Quentin (Kyle Gallner) - who has been in love with her for years - is, in fact, even taking medication for his ADD that helps him to stay awake. When Nancy's friend Kris (Katie Cassidy) is killed, and Kris' boyfriend Jesse (Thomas Dekker) arrested for her murder, it's Thomas insistence to Nancy that Kris was killed in the middle of her dream that sparks Nancy to investigate ... leading, eventually, to the truth of the dark origins of Freddy Krueger, and long-buried memories that could lead her and her friends to both the truth, and a way to fight the monster ... or to their deaths.

Much as the actors try, this is a fairly pale imitation of the original - with, ironically enough, the most potent scenes being virtual remakes of ones found in the original film (Nancy's bathtub scene, Kris' death in her bedroom). Other than that, the death scenes are fairly uninspired, none of them touching on the dreamworld of the person experiencing the dream (like in the original films), so much as the victim being suddenly exported to the same set almost every time. Freddy's back-story has been changed up a bit, and we're still no let in on that story until toward the end of the film (like the original) - but on the way, nothing truly inspiring happens to set this Nightmare apart from not only the original ... but also from slew of other horror/stalker films out there! Haley, while menacing as Krueger, doesn't have the depth or charisma or even pure horror Freddy extolled in the original, thanks to Englund.

While the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street offers a couple of jolts, and isn't a bad film, at the same time it's just sort of ... there. You may even wonder, after watching it, why they even bothered with a remake in the first place. Fairly uninspired, with a so-so script the actors involved aren't really given much to do with, this would be something to watch if you like horror films and have nothing else to watch. Other than that, maybe pop in the original, instead. **1/2 - Reel Mediocre-Reel Cool

12) THE LAST AIRBENDER

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Stars: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Toub, Aasif Mandvi, Cliff Curtis
Year: 2010
Rating: PG

Having never seen the hugely-popular animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender," even after all the criticism online from fans of the show I still tried to approach M. Night Shyamalan's live-action film version, The Last Airbender, with an open mind.

Honest - I tried.

The Last Airbender opens with a world in turmoil. In this world, divided into the four kingdoms based on the elements of fire, air, water and earth, all is ruled over by the Avatar - the one link between the spirit and human world who has the ability to bend all four elements at his will. But a hundred years ago the Avatar disappeared, and in that time the Fire Nation has systematically set out to take over the other three kingdoms for total domination, killing the benders who won't bow to their will ...

Creating the world in chaos that opens the film, in the Water Kingdom with brother and sister Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) and Katara (Nicola Peltz), who live in a frozen climate and dress like nomadic Eskimos. Soon after the film establishes the characters and their world, Katara - a waterbender herself - and Sokka discover something strange hidden under the ice ... and unleash a gigantic ball of water that bursts and releases its prisoner - Aang (Noah Ringer), a young boy who turns out to be the long-missing Avatar.

But as Sokka and Katara acclimate him to the new world he's awoken in, Aang's reemergence has not gone unnoticed by the Fire Nation - and in particular, Prince Zuko (Dev Patel), the exiled son of the Fire King, who via his actions has been banned from his own land until he can bring the Avatar to his father. Along with his Uncle Iroh (Shaun Toub), who's gone along to look after the prince, Zuko's one mission in life seems to be to redeem himself in the eyes of his father, the king (Cliff Curtis) ... so he sets off immediately to see capture Aang and determine if he IS the true Avatar - the one thing standing in the way of the Fire Nation's total dominance over the entire world. But a skirmish with Aang, in which the boy escapes thanks to the help of Katara and Sokka, not only makes Prince Zuko determined to succeed in his quest - but also to beat out his father's head officer, Commander Zhao (Aasif Mandvi), who has also got wind of the Avatar and will do anything to capture the boy and prove HIS loyalty to the Fire King first ...

All of this as Katara and Sokka travel with Aang, in a quest to complete the boy's training (he can, so far, only bend air - though he does it QUITE well, and is in fact the last of the airbenders) before the Fire Nation finds them first.

All of the above crammed into just 103 minutes of visually stunning special effects ... and not much else. The Last Airbender looks great; special care was taken to make the bending (manipulation) of the elements of fire, water, air and earth on-screen nothing short of visually stunning, and there are indeed a couple of fight scenes (including the finale) that have their moments.

Sadly, it's all wrapped around a bunch of characters you're given almost zero time to get to know - much less care about. Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel turns in the one truly memorable performance - in fact, the guy radiates on the screen every time he appears, getting your attention - but the rest of the actors are pretty much working with paper-thin characters who are given no time to shine on-screen. There is just too much crammed into the 103 minutes here, a lot of it special effects, so that in the end you're left with an empty, "who cares?" feeling about what happens to the majority of the characters involved.

Like a window display mannequin, The Last Airbender is pretty to look at on the outside - but ultimately hollow when you look beyond the surface. Even as someone who's never seen the animated series, I felt pretty short-changed after this one, and would only recommend it to those who want to see some cool special effects (even though, to be honest, the martial arts gesturing of the benders even got on my nerves after awhile) ... or to see what even a genuine talent like Dev Patel can make of mediocre material like this. ** - Reel Mediocre